매우높임

Korean

Etymology

From 매우 (mae'u, extremely, immensely, vastly) +‎ 높임 (nopim, honorific exaltation).

Pronunciation

  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [ˈmɛ(ː)uno̞pʰim] ~ [ˈme̞(ː)uno̞pʰim]
  • Phonetic hangul: [(ː)/(ː)]
    • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.
Romanizations
Revised Romanization?mae'unopim
Revised Romanization (translit.)?mae'unop'im
McCune–Reischauer?maeunop'im
Yale Romanization?māywunoph.im

Noun

매우높임 • (mae'unopim)

  1. (grammar) royal, 7th speech level in Korean.

Usage notes

매우높임 (mae'unopim) is a speech level that’s considered archaic in everyday speech. It was historically the language of the court and the ceremonial standard. In modern times, it’s frequently found in religious texts and is the preferred form in prayer. Like other speech levels, it is applied to verbs and adjectives to reflect the relationship between the speaker and the audience. It is used both with and without honorifics, which reflect the relationships with the referent of the subject.

Korean words inflected in this speech level are characterized by the suffix —옵니다 (-umnida) or —옵나이다 (-umnaida) for more respect in the indicative mood. In the imperative mood, it is characterized by the suffix —소서 (-soseo) or —옵소서 (obsoseo) for more respect. E.g.:

  • 하옵니다 (haomnida): (non-honorific) "does"
  • 하옵나이다 (haomnaida): (non-honorific, but more respectful) "does"
  • 하소서 (hasoseo): (non-honorific) "please do"
  • 하옵소서 (haopsoseo): (non-honorific, but more respectful) "please do"
  • 하였사옵니다 (hayeotsaomnida): (non-honorific) "did"
  • 하였사옵나이다 (hayeotsaomnaida): (non-honorific, but more respectful) "did"

Synonyms

See also

(Other speech levels)